Small tree to 20 m, flowering when a sapling; bole to 20 cm diam. Bark smooth, brown, to finely fissured and scaling; inner bark yellow-brown, mottled; sapwood cream. Branches striate, cicatrose. Leafy twigs 4–6 mm diam., fulvous tomentellous when young; apical bud stiletto-shaped. Leaves 20–40 cm, (1) 2–4 (5)-jugate, with a terminal pair of leaflets with a scar between them or one leaflet and a spike or its scar; petiole 6–15 cm, ± finely puberulous, flattened adaxially, conspicuously swollen at base; rachis angled or weakly winged. Leaflets 10–27 by 2.5–8 cm, the most distal the largest, oblong-lanceolate, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, rugulose, minutely black gland-ciotted, alternate to sub-opposite, bases acute, attenuate, apices abruptly acuminate, costae 8–14 on each side, sometimes with domatia in axils, acute to obtuse, arcuate, prominent abaxially, secondary venation obscure; petiolules 4–10 mm, swollen, blackish in sicco. Thyrses 1–8 cm, spike-like, supra-axillary; rachis c. 2–3 mm diam., puberulous, bearing congested cymules of 3 or 4 sweetly scented (fide Richards) flowers; bracts c. 1 mm, triangular. Calyx c. 2 mm long, 5 mm diam., very shallowly cupular, puberulous without, shortly 4-toothed. Petals 4, c. 8 by 3 mm, elliptic, puberulous without yellowish, valvate. Staminal tube ± 4-angled, glabrous or sparsely puberulous on angles without, margin crenate to (7–)8(–9)-toothed, the teeth emarginate; anthers (7) 8 (9), c. 1 mm long, elliptic, included. Disk c. 2 mm long and in diam., fleshy, glabrous or ± pubescent within, margin erose to c. 8-toothed. Ovary pubescent, 4-locular; style puberulent in proximal half; stylehead discoid with basal annulus. Capsule solitary or paired, 3–5 cm long, c. 2–2.5 cm diam., deeply 3-or 4-lobed, glabrous and orange when mature, drying blackish, veined. Seeds black (Henderson, l.c.).
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